title: Unisexual reproduction enhances fungal competitiveness by promoting habitat exploration via hyphal growth and sporulation.
abstract: Unisexual reproduction is a novel homothallic sexual cycle recently discovered in both ascomycetous and basidiomycetous pathogenic fungi. It is a form of selfing that induces the yeast-to-hyphal dimorphic transition in isolates of the α mating type of the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Unisexual reproduction may benefit the pathogen by facilitating sexual reproduction in the absence of the opposite a mating type and by generating infectious propagules called basidiospores. Here, we report an independent potential selective advantage of unisexual reproduction beyond genetic exchange and recombination. We competed a wild-type strain capable of undergoing unisexual reproduction with mutants defective in this developmental pathway and found that unisexual reproduction provides a considerable dispersal advantage through hyphal growth and sporulation. Our results show that unisexual reproduction may serve to facilitate access to both nutrients and potential mating partners and may provide a means to maintain the capacity for dimorphic transitions in the environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Sujal S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Phadke
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feretzaki
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heitman
mesh_terms: D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004171:Diploidy; D017753:Ecosystem; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D025301:Hyphae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics*; D012641:Selection, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development